All along the watchtower (Gothia Towers Hotel (Gothenburg))

Member Name: raehippychick

Product:	Gothia Towers Hotel (Gothenburg)
Date:	14/08/07 (168 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good for business visits and conferences

Disadvantages: A little less intimate than I like. If you don't like heights it'sa bit tall!

The other week my boss asked me to go to Sweden for a few days. Great news, you might think? Well, apart from the fact that I have a small (huge!) fear of flying that’s what I thought too! Luckily the weather was fine, the seminar went well, Gothenburg was a lovely green tree filled city and the Swedish people I met were all friendly, so the trip was a success!

I had no choice in my hotel for this trip, so I was pleasantly surprised by an attractive, very tall, shiny building with an enormous marble floored foyer. On check in the staff fortunately spoke fluent English and were extremely helpful and polite. My room was located on the 12th floor (of 23!) in the west tower. It was the usual modern hotel room that I expected, with a large walk-in shower but no bath. The cleanliness was exceptional and the décor very modern and comfortable

Having unpacked I nipped back down in the lift to reception to ask if there was anywhere I could smoke in the hotel (yes, I know, it’s a disgusting habit!) and the receptionist asked if I would prefer a smoking room. Cue stunned silence from me; since we went non-smoking over here in the UK I wasn’t expecting this potion at all. So ten minutes later I had whizzed back up and down 12 floors, collected my new key card, crossed the vast expanse of foyer and gone up 5 floors into the east tower to my new room

This new room, whilst being clean and comfortable was not of the same quality as the first one. It looks like the west tower has recently been modernised, as there is a definite difference in the style and quality of decoration. This said, the room was perfectly adequate and other than having a broken, but still usable hairdryer was fine. The hairdryer was also one of those ghastly brown box ones on the bathroom wall, as opposed to a nice ‘normal’ one like in the previous room

One thing to note about this hotel was the security. Not only did I have an easy to use safe in my wardrobe, but also to get to the floors with rooms you had to use your key card in the lifts. Being blonde I managed to muff this up a few times on my first evening and spent some time needlessly going up and down a few floors. Apparently you have to put your key card in the slot in the lift first and then press your room floor. Still, I got there in my own inimitable way

The whole hotel was beautifully clean and airy. Airiness and spaciousness was something I saw a lot of in Gothenburg. Sweden clearly has more space than us! A lot of office buildings were built around a large open space, often going up to the top floor and the hotel was no exception. For a city hotel there was a surprising amount of empty space, which made the whole place feel very pleasant. There were plenty of lifts for the 704 rooms, and although I did notice that sometimes one would not be working I never had to wait long for one to arrive

This hotel is designed primarily for business and conferences with a large conference centre on the 2nd floor (that is the first floor to us Brits – the 1st floor over is the ground floor), again with vast amounts of open space, broken up by a the occasional grouping of a few chairs and sofas. There are two restaurants, one on the ground (1st) floor and one on the breathtaking 23rd floor of the west tower. The latter, Heaven 23, is an experience not to be missed. I didn’t actually eat in the restaurant, although I peeked in, and it looked really good, as I was seduced by the view from the bar area. I perched on a high stool with matching table on the west side of the room with all of Gothenburg spread out under a glorious evening sun and enjoyed the view and the sunset over a glass of red wine and a delicious light snack of bleak roe with salad and crispy biscuit. One thing that particularly appealed to me was being given a large glass of water with my glass of wine, just a small touch, but most appreciated after a long day

I think the red wine had some magical properties as when I had finished, instead of returning via the normal lift, I actually braved the piece de resistance of the modern design of this hotel; a large lass lift on the outside of the building. Yes, that’s right, I went down all 23 floors in a silly glass box! And I kept my eyes open all the way down! I’m glad I did as the view spectacular, particularly the lights from the fun fair opposite

The second night I tried the restaurant on the ground floor, Incontro. Again, with plenty of space and a modern feel, this has an Italian theme and a good bar menu. I opted for their speciality called Kingsize, having seen people eat it in the top floor bar the previous night. When they say Kingsize, they really mean it! It is basically an open prawn sandwich on brown bread with a boiled egg and mayonnaise, but I have never seen so many prawns on one plate. At 159 SEK (around 11 quid) it might not be cheap, but it was very fresh and tasty and certainly filled me up

The rooms as I say were standard fare for a business hotel, my second room had a modern art deco feel to the decoration and had the usual trouser press, desk, chairs and television along with tea and coffee making facilities. The mini bar had a small selection of beers and soft drinks but I couldn’t see a price list and didn’t fancy anything anyway. I made do with a tumbler of cold water and ice from the ice machine near the lifts, which they provide an ice bucket for. The television had Sky and BBC News 24 along with plenty of subtitled American sit-coms showing in English, so I was able to while away the latter evening hours quite nicely

As well as television, a wireless keyboard is provided for Internet access via the TV, but as usual this cost so I didn’t bother trying it. All rooms have phone-lines and wi-fi connection for those who just can’t live without their email and Internet access at a price: 139 SEK (approximately a tenner) for 24 hours, or 59 SEK (about £4.00) per hour

The best part, other than that stunning sky-high restaurant was breakfast. Served from 6.30-10.30 in Estrad, on floor two near the conference centre, it is buffet arrangement with a slight canteen feel and again plenty of space. There were seven main areas to grab your goodies from: a drinks station that served coffees, teas and fresh juices, I discovered a very appetizing mixed fruit drink called vitality, not being able to speak Swedish I am not sure what was in it but the was a definite passion fruit taste.

I patronised the cold meats and cheeses bar a lot as the bread rolls were simply divine, very fresh and soft with tasty seeds and nuts on top. There was a good selection of cold meats and cheeses and, slightly bizarrely in that section, dishes of jam and marmalade. I found that blackberry jam goes very well in a cheese and ham roll. Other sections catered for fresh fruit, toasts and breads, cereals and hot food. On the my last morning I spoiled myself with pancakes and bacon liberally drizzled with maple syrup

The only downsides I could find were, the broken hairdryer, one day they forgot to replenish my tea and coffee sachets and the bar staff, although very polite and pleasant could have been a bit quicker with the service: I had to wait some time for my bill in Heaven 23, but these are all minor gripes

Other than the two main restaurants, the breakfast restaurant and the conference centre, the hotel has a large penthouse function room at the top of east tower and a ‘relax area’ with a steam room and sauna, but no swimming pool, although they do offer discounted rates to a pool and gym nearby. It was a shame there was no pool as I really enjoy a dip and would have had plenty of time on this particular trip

Overall I would say this hotel is ideal for the business traveller. The staff are all polite, helpful and efficient and although it is large it does not feel as impersonal as some hotels I have stayed at in London

One day I am going to surprise my lovely fella with a trip over for dinner in that top floor restaurant. Well, if I book up via Ryan Air in advance it I can be quite cheap to get the and as it only an hour and a half flight (not including the interminable queuing) from Stansted to Gothenburg City airport it is quite feasible to get there and back in a day for us

My double room cost 998 SEK (around £75.00) a night including all that lovely breakfast, s although not overly cheap, not too dear either. I am not sure if I would book here for pleasure and at my own expense as I tend to prefer places that are a little more intimate, but when it is all on expenses I am not going to complain!

They have a website http://www.gothiatowers.com/index.asp that is also available in English for us non-Nordic speaking people

Summary: A good all round hotel with a great restaurant